First of all, I can't promise an extremely high pace. Will try to make 3 reports or so tomorrow, but that could turn out to be less.
Secondly, heres what you've actually been waiting for.
The Santos Tour Down Under, 2014 edition, is up for its 15th edition. Here is a preview of what you have seen in the past, and will see this edition.
The Tour Down Under saw its inaugural edition in 1999, with at the time not yet a ProTour status. It was won by shared record holder Stuart O'Grady, who later on went to win in 2001 as well.
Two other riders managed to win this race twice. In both 2008 and 2010 André Greipel took the overall victory, Simon Gerrans raced to overall victory in 2006 and 2012.
Last year we saw a very surprising winner. Despite not winning any stage the Belgian Gianni Meersman took the overall victory, using his bonification seconds to survive Old Willunga Hill. He finished in the same time as Dani Moreno, but had better stage classifications and thus more points. 3 seconds behind this duo it was Bob Jungels who came 3rd, after a win in stage 2.
The route has undergone some significant changes compared to last year. It'll be interesting to see how this impacts the team strategies.
Stage 1 is the first dramatically changed stage. While in the past it had always been a pure stage for the sprinters, the inclusion of the cat.1 Mengler's Hill 12km from the end will definitely provide some sort of trouble for them. If they survive this though the road to the finish seems ideal for them though, with the finish straight being on a wide road.
Stage two is a typical stage for this race. While last year this stage was placed as 3rd in the order of 6 stages, it has now been moved to the 2nd stage. It's also the first really hilly stage. The finishing climb to Stirling may not be the most challenging one, but several other short climbs are ascended in advance. If this ends in a sprint, this won't be for a real sprinter.
How funny is that? What was stage 2 last year is now stage 3. Bob Jungels' incredible solo victory has not been forgotten by the others yet, but the question is whether a final attack on Mount Corkscrew can be countered in such a way that it will end up in a sprint. Maybe the real favourites won't go yet, but it might be an outsider who stuns the rest.
Stage 4 is not the greatest stage of all. Its heaviest slopes are in the beginning of the race, and after that the race goes mostly downhill. As this stage does not provide much challenge, it might be the first real stage suitable for the pure sprinters present here.
Stage 5 is, as usual the queen stage. With the famous Old Willunga Hill it's also probably the most known one in Australia. Its two ascents, including the one to the finish, should provide the greatest opportunities for the punchers to make a real difference here. The expectation is that the general classification will see its final major shake-up here, given that the final stage is flat.
As is tradition, the final stage of the Tour Down Under is a short criterium race. Despite the presence of Montafiore Hill the stage is definitely made for sprinters, since the hill in question is no more than half a kilometer long. The sprinters will probably give it all today, as it's their final chance of this race. Any GC attempts seem highly unlikely here today.
First favourite to be mentioned is obviously last year's winner. Gianni Meersman has been sent here to defend his title, but he may suffer from competition in his own team, of both Richie Porte and Jan Bakelants. All 3 should nevertheless have a good chance of overall victory, or at least a top-5.
Last year's second place is also present, though this time for another team. Dani Moreno will try to improve his classification this year. He's undoubtedly the strongest climber of his team here, so any dispute over leadership are unlikely to happen in his team.
Another strong puncher here might be very strong as well. Neo-pro Benedikt Weschenbach is a strong puncher, but moreover he is a very quick sprinter as well. Although this combo might be ideal, it must be said his recovery is the best, nor is it likely he'll lead the sprints in his team. Furthermore, his support in the hills is very weak.
Second-year-pro for first-year-WorldTour-team Christian Schröder is one of the strongest punchers in this field. The terrain seems perfect for him, and his acceleration might bring him his greatest victory so far. Unfortunately for him, the support on the climbs is quite weak though.
Two of the three record winners are present here. Of those two Simon Gerrans seems to be the likeliest to add up his total to three. Being a good climber and having the home support, he's not unlikely to win here. His support will be very good with 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and double Vuelta stage winner Mitchell Birt by his side.
Adrien Hanzen is maybe not the best puncher, but has shown some good surviving skills on the hills. If he gets bonification seconds in advance, he'll surely be able to limit his losses on Willunga Hill and maybe even hang on for overall victory.
Of course, there are many outsiders who will also stand a chance for overall victory. Enrico Gasparotto, Robert Gesink, Jorge Cristobal, Ion Izagirre, Zdenek Stybar, Moreno Moser, Gregory Bernard, Giampaolo Caruso, Rajesh Kakhi, Jelle Vanendert, Rudy Verboven and Igor Anton are just some of the many outsiders.
Not only does this edition have many good punchers on the startlist, it also has some of the absolute elite of the sprints present.
First up is Mark Cavendish. Do I need to say more? No? Fine, then I'll continue.
André Greipel. Two times he won the overall. With the tough edition this year that seems unlikely, but the sprints? He'll try to go for them all.
Many many more sprinters have come here. Movistar has based its entire team on Carlo Calzone, providing a sprint train of no less than 6 riders.
Adrien Hanzen, also contender for the overall, should at least try it in the sprints. Fenn, Blythe and Felline should provide a good lead-out for him.
Ryu Kawasaki is another fast man in the pack. He also got a sprint train with him, but how it will unfold is yet to be seen. It has to be said this goes for any team though.
I could go on and list any other strong sprinter present here, with all details, but that would become too long. Here's a shorter list: Andrea Guardini, Danny van Poppel, Plusvite de la Lumière, Mark Renshaw, Mangere Kaha, Barry Markus, Alexander Kristoff, Daniele Bennati, Heinrich Haussler and Leigh Howard.
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